2nd Chair

Best

Stage 1

35 Clears

Stage 2

5 Clears

Stage 3

3 Clears

Final Stage

2 Clears

KUNOICHI 8, official name: KUNOICHI2009秋 (literally: KUNOICHI 2009 Fall), aired on Wednesday October 7, 2009 at 19:55 JST. After a two year hiatus, KUNOICHI was brought back and completely re-imagined. For the first time in history, the course consisted of mixes of head-to-head challenges and timed stages similar to the SASUKE Trials. A record 35 women completed Stage 1 or Repechange, a new addition to the competition. Stage 2 was peppered with obstacles returning from retirement and obstacles from other stages. The latter half of the competition was dominated by Muscle Musical Members, all of whom made it to the Final Stage. Members Komiya Rie and Kadoi Satomi earned the fourth and fifth kanzenseihas in KUNOICHI history.

Contents

Stage 1

Stage 1 is run in groups of four. The first two to finish, or if only one finishes within the time limit, move on to Stage 2. If none of the four complete the stage either by time or falling into the water, all four participate in the Repechange. Each of the new obstacles were designed to test the woman's speed against each other, these new rules and obstacles elimanted several top competitors including Nishimura Chie and Tanaka Maho. The Burancho proved to be the hardest obstacle in the stage elimanting many challengers but even that did not stop 25 competitors from clearing Stage 1. The new course elimanted nine of the groups who then attempted the new repechange.

It is unknown how the groups were paired, as the competitors were given numbers but were not shown on the TBS broadcast.

Obstacles

NOTE: Group numbers below are not exact due to TBS's editing. Numbers correspond to the order in which they were shown in the broadcast and assuming that groups commentated by Sato went first followed by groups that were commentated by Hatsuta.

Stage 3

Instead of an obstacle course, the remaining competitors had to compete against each other in the Flying Roll, where only top 3 (or less depending on the results) would advance to the final stage. The bar was initially set to 1.8 metres, which is higher than any of the competitors' height.